Morning News | Binance has completed the first batch of asset conversions for the SAFU fund; Prometheum has completed a $23 million financing; the Chicago Exchange plans to restart binary options to enter the prediction market
Overview of Important Market Events on February 2整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- The value of options betting on Bitcoin falling below $75,000 reaches $1.159 billion, equal to the value of $100,000 call options
- Yi Lihua: It was a mistake to be bullish on ETH too early, and profit-taking has now occurred
- Binance: Completed the first batch of asset conversions for the SAFU fund, having purchased $100 million in Bitcoin
- Digital asset market infrastructure provider Prometheum completes an additional $23 million financing
- Strategy spent $75.3 million last week to increase its holdings by 855 Bitcoin
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority: Received 36 applications for stablecoin licenses, aiming to issue the first batch of licenses
- Chicago Board Options Exchange plans to restart binary options to enter the prediction market
What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Cointelegraph, India is exploring the cross-border use of the digital rupee (e-rupee) to reduce payment costs, improve trade settlement efficiency, and expand the global role of the rupee.
The report states that as a sovereign digital currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India, the e-rupee can achieve direct and final settlement without relying on multiple intermediaries in international payments. Currently, India has proposed linking the e-rupee with the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of other countries, particularly BRICS nations, to simplify cross-border trade, remittances, and travel settlements.
BitMine increased its holdings by 41,788 ETH last week, totaling over 4.28 million ETH
According to ChainCatcher, BitMine announced today that its total cryptocurrency, cash, and "potential project" assets are valued at $10.7 billion, having increased its holdings by 41,788 ETH in the past week.
As of February 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM EST, the company's crypto assets include: · 4,285,125 ETH · 193 BTC · $200 million equity investment in Beast Industries · $20 million equity investment in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) ("potential project") · and a total of $586 million in cash.
Bitmine Executive Chairman Thomas "Tom" Lee stated, "The price of ETH has significantly dropped from about $3,000 to around $2,300 in the past month. Meanwhile, Ethereum's daily trading volume has reached a historic high of 2.5 million transactions, and the number of daily active addresses soared to a historic peak of 1 million in 2026. In other words, on-chain activity and fundamentals for Ethereum have significantly strengthened in the past few months, yet the price of ETH has been declining. During the crypto winters of 2021-2022 or 2018-2019, Ethereum's trading activity and active wallet numbers decreased, which is in stark contrast to what we have observed in the past 12 months.
Therefore, we believe that the reasons for the weak ETH price are more related to non-fundamental factors. Firstly, we think the main reason is that the leverage capital has not yet returned to the cryptocurrency market, influenced by the aftermath of the "October 10" event.
Strategy spent $75.3 million last week to increase its holdings by 855 Bitcoin
According to ChainCatcher, official news states that Strategy acquired 855 BTC last week for approximately $75.3 million, with an average price of about $87,974 per Bitcoin.
As of February 1, 2026, Strategy holds a total of 713,502 BTC, with a total acquisition cost of about $54.26 billion, averaging about $76,052 per Bitcoin.
Chicago Board Options Exchange plans to restart binary options to enter the prediction market
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by The Block, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) is in early discussions with retail brokers and market makers to plan the reintroduction of binary options contracts, aiming to compete in the rapidly growing prediction market.
Kalshi and Polymarket saw trading volumes reach $17 billion in January, setting a monthly historical high. Cboe originally launched this product in 2008 but later withdrew it, and is now seeking to reposition it as a gateway for retail investors into the options market through compliant design. The plan will be regulated by the SEC or CFTC.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Businesswire, U.S. digital asset market infrastructure provider Prometheum announced that it has secured an additional $23 million in financing since early 2025, from a group of high-net-worth investors and institutions.
This funding will support its business expansion in the U.S. digital market. Specific directions include: providing digital asset corresponding clearing services for U.S. broker-dealers, enabling their clients to trade digital assets through existing brokerage accounts; and accelerating the issuance of blockchain-based digital native and tokenized securities products for distribution through its broker network.
Community questions "Binance buying BTC is just internal fund management," He Yi responds "Binance buys internally"
According to ChainCatcher, He Yi responded to the claim that "Binance buying BTC is just internal fund management and has not received coins from external addresses," stating, "Binance will buy on Binance internally."
According to ChainCatcher, Hong Kong Monetary Authority President Yu Weiwen stated that the first round has received stablecoin license applications from 36 institutions, and they are continuously evaluating them, aiming to make a decision as soon as possible and issue the first batch of licenses in March.
Yu Weiwen pointed out that regulators have requested supplementary information for some applications. Since the first round of submissions mainly contained basic information required for licensing, further verification of key elements such as specific application scenarios, risk management arrangements, and reserve asset composition is still needed. Provided that the information is complete, the Monetary Authority will strive to complete the issuance of the first batch of licenses in March, but emphasized that the number of licenses will not be large, and the process will be cautious and prudent.
Binance: Completed the first batch of asset conversions for the SAFU fund, having purchased $100 million in Bitcoin
According to ChainCatcher, official news states that Binance has completed the first batch of asset conversions for the SAFU fund, spending $100 million in stablecoins to purchase Bitcoin. Binance will continue to use the remaining SAFU fund to buy Bitcoin, aiming to complete this within 30 days of the initial announcement.
Musk announces Grok Imagine version 1 is now fully released
According to ChainCatcher, Musk announced that Grok Imagine version 1 is now fully released. Grok Imagine 1 is the latest achievement of xAI's artificial intelligence audio and video generation, capable of generating 10-second videos at 720p resolution and significantly improving audio quality, with users generating over 1.245 billion videos during the 30-day trial period.
Total market value of silver drops to third place globally, shrinking to $4.331 trillion
According to ChainCatcher, international spot silver and gold prices continue to decline. Companiesmarketcap data shows that the global asset market value of silver has shrunk to $4.331 trillion, while the market value of gold assets has dropped to $32.518 trillion. Currently, gold's global market value remains first, while silver has dropped to third place, below Nvidia's $4.653 trillion.
Epstein files reveal: invested in Blockstream, closely related to early Bitcoin circles
According to ChainCatcher, the Epstein files unsealed on January 30 show that he had connections with several core figures in the cryptocurrency formation period. Emails from 2014 confirm that he participated in the oversubscribed $18 million seed round financing of Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream, increasing his personal investment from $50,000 to $500,000 through the Joi Ito fund of MIT Media Lab. Co-founders Austin Hill and Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back were both involved in the email exchanges.
The documents also show that in 2014 he discussed the definition of Bitcoin with Peter Thiel; in 2016 proposed creating an Islamic cryptocurrency to a Saudi royal advisor; in 2011 stated that Bitcoin was smart but had serious flaws; and in 2017 explicitly replied that it was not worth buying Bitcoin. Additionally, the names of MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and Trump's newly nominated Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh also appeared on the guest list for the 2010 New Year's party in St. Barts.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that the investigation found no evidence of Epstein using cryptocurrency for money laundering or evading regulation; his role was limited to high-level networking, occasional investments, and observation.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, data from the Deribit options trading platform shows that the dollar value of Bitcoin put options contracts with a strike price of $75,000 has now reached $1.159 billion, nearly equal to the nominal open interest of $100,000 call options at $1.168 billion.
However, there are also a large number of open contracts for put options with strike prices of $70,000, $80,000, and $85,000, while higher strike call options (except for the $100,000 call options) lack similar trading activity.
Yi Lihua: It was a mistake to be bullish on ETH too early, and profit-taking has now occurred
According to ChainCatcher, Yi Lihua stated on the X platform that it must be acknowledged: being bullish on ETH too early since the top was indeed a mistake, as BTC was around $100,000 and ETH was consistently at $3,000, which we believed was undervalued. Currently, there has been a round of profit-taking, and position size determines the mindset. Under the premise of controlling risk, we will continue to wait for the market to move upward. Thank you all for your concern; investing and trading are the most challenging. Being in the industry, one cannot help but remain bullish.
Data: Antminer S19, Shennma M60 and below series miners have reached shutdown coin prices
According to ChainCatcher, based on current Bitcoin mining difficulty and an electricity cost of $0.08 per kWh, miners including Antminer S19 XP+ Hyd, Shennma M60S, and Avalon A1466I have reached shutdown coin prices. The Antminer S21 series (S21, S21+, S21 Hyd.) is approaching shutdown coin prices in the range of approximately $69,000 to $74,000.
Additionally, high-performance miners such as Antminer U3S23H and Antminer S23 Hyd have shutdown coin prices above $44,000.
Jupiter announces $35 million strategic investment
According to ChainCatcher, Jupiter announced a strategic investment of $35 million from ParaFi Capital to accelerate the construction of on-chain financial infrastructure.
Wu Jiezhuang: Hong Kong will introduce cryptocurrency custody and OTC regulatory provisions this year, which may allow professional investors to conduct larger-scale transactions
According to ChainCatcher, Wu Jiezhuang, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, stated in an interview with CoinDesk that Hong Kong is positioning itself as a connecting hub for the global cryptocurrency market.
Wu emphasized that Hong Kong should not compete with other jurisdictions but should play a bridging role. He pointed out, "Cryptocurrency and Web3 are highly related to the traditional financial system." Combined with the Greater Bay Area initiative, Hong Kong can connect the scale of mainland cities, the depth of manufacturing, and technical talent while providing regulatory clarity and financial credibility. Wu also stated that this year Hong Kong will launch custody and OTC regulations, which may allow professional investors to conduct higher-volume transactions.
Wu also mentioned that the artificial intelligence field will also integrate with cryptocurrency, and Hong Kong occupies a unique position in this regard, able to handle data sets from both the West and China, becoming a platform for global AI company collaboration. He believes Hong Kong's advantage lies in maintaining openness, regulation, and connectivity, occupying a central position in this still-developing system.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of February 3, 09:00,
The top five popular tokens in ETH over the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO
The top five popular tokens in Solana over the past 24 hours are: arc, PENGUIN, USELESS, 67, WhiteWhale
The top five popular tokens in Base over the past 24 hours are: SKYA, B3, NATO, TOSHI, toby
What are some noteworthy articles to read in the past 24 hours?
Retail investors are not the noise of the market, but the main melody of the market
For a long time, there has been a deeply ingrained ranking of market difficulty in my mind: commodities > A-shares > U.S. stocks > Crypto. The logic behind this ranking seems rigorous:
- Commodities require deep industry research, macro judgment, and geopolitical understanding
- A-shares are filled with policy games and information asymmetry
- U.S. stocks are mature markets with high pricing efficiency from institutions
- Crypto is the youngest, with transparent information, "the simplest"
But this logic has a fatal flaw: equating the complexity of the market with the difficulty of investment profitability. The result is that in the "complex" market, one hesitates, while in the "simple" market, one only skims the surface.
Tiger Research: Liquidity vacuum drives sharp sell-off, why hasn't Bitcoin rebounded?
- Bitcoin fell from $87,000 to $81,000 on January 29 and continued to drop below $80,000.
- Microsoft's disappointing earnings report dragged down the Nasdaq index, causing the active realized price support near $87,000 for Bitcoin to be breached.
- Speculation about Kevin Warsh being nominated as Federal Reserve Chairman exerted downward pressure, although actual policy may not be as severe as the market anticipates.
- Regulatory agencies still maintain a friendly attitude towards cryptocurrency, but the $84,000 level has been lost, and short-term downward risks cannot be ignored.
2026 Macro Forecast: Liquidity, Expectations, and New Order
At the beginning of 2025, the main "bullish" factor in investors' minds was Trump's official inauguration. The mainstream view was that he would trigger more rate cuts, inject liquidity, and push up asset prices.
In fact, from September to December 2025, due to concerns about the labor market, the Federal Reserve did implement three "defensive" rate cuts and announced the end of quantitative tightening (QT). However, this did not bring about the "liquidity flood" that investors had hoped for. Starting in October, the effective federal funds rate (EFFR) gradually moved toward the midpoint of the "interest rate corridor," and then even drifted past the midpoint to the upper limit of the corridor—this is by no means a sign of liquidity easing.
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