Morning News | Binance SAFU Fund buys another $100 million in Bitcoin; TRM Labs completes $70 million Series C funding; UBS is considering offering cryptocurrency services to individual clients
Overview of Important Market Events on February 4整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Tom Lee Responds to Bitmine's Floating Loss of $6.6 Billion: Holding Floating Losses is Not a System Flaw, but Part of Product Design
- Binance SAFU Fund Buys Another $100 Million in Bitcoin
- UBS is Considering Offering Cryptocurrency Services to Individual Clients
- Bloomberg: Anthropic Plans Employee Stock Buyback at a Valuation of $350 Billion and Aims to Raise Over $20 Billion
- Crypto Compliance Company TRM Labs Completes $70 Million Series C Funding, Led by Blockchain Capital
- Ripple Integrates Hyperliquid into its Institutional Brokerage Service Ripple Prime
- CZ: The 863,000-Follower Scam Account "Wei" May Be Operated by Binance's Competitors
What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours?
CZ: The 863,000-Follower Scam Account "Wei" May Be Operated by Binance's Competitors
According to ChainCatcher, CZ added on social media under his post about the "863,000-follower X account 'Wei' being a potential scammer": Who would impersonate a supporter of BNB, using fake AI images for months just to spread FUD? I can't think of any other possibility; it seems like something a (self-important) competitor would do, focusing on us more than on themselves.
This account appears to have previously belonged to a woman. Before February 2015, the account mostly posted photos of women. Then in July 2015, the account suddenly switched to only posting cryptocurrency-related content. Either the account was hacked or it was bought. They didn't even bother to delete the old photos. Those old pictures can still be seen on their media page. What a lazy bot.
Ripple Integrates Hyperliquid into its Institutional Brokerage Service Ripple Prime
According to ChainCatcher, Ripple has integrated the decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid into its institutional brokerage service Ripple Prime, marking the platform's first direct support for DeFi venues.
This integration allows institutional clients to access Hyperliquid's on-chain derivatives market while managing positions across multiple asset classes under a single risk and margin framework.
UBS is Considering Offering Cryptocurrency Services to Individual Clients
According to ChainCatcher, UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, is considering offering cryptocurrency services to individual clients, as reported by CoinDesk.
According to ChainCatcher, the prediction market Opinion announced the completion of $20 million in Series A funding, with participation from Hack VC, Jump Crypto, Primitive Ventures, Decasonic, and others.
Opinion's founder and CEO Forrest Liu stated that the funding will be used to strengthen regional presence and advance global expansion in preparation for the 2026 World Cup and multiple national election cycles.
Opinion claims that its prediction market fully adopts on-chain settlement, with a model closer to Polymarket rather than the centralized platform Kalshi. The platform states that it currently processes about one-third of the global prediction market trading volume, with an open contract size exceeding $130 million, showing significant growth since last October, covering various fields such as macroeconomics and regional events.
On an industry level, prediction markets are evolving from niche products to an emerging asset class. Data shows that the global monthly trading volume of prediction markets has approached $10 billion, with demand continuing to rise amid increasing policy and geopolitical uncertainties.
According to ChainCatcher, Xinhua News Agency reported that President Xi Jinping spoke on the phone with U.S. President Trump.
Trump stated that both the U.S. and China are great countries, and the U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. He has a great relationship with President Xi and respects him. Under the leadership of him and President Xi, the U.S. and China have had good interactions in areas such as trade and economy. He welcomes China's success and the U.S. is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to promote new development in bilateral relations.
According to ChainCatcher, Nasdaq-listed insurance brokerage Tianruixiang announced that it has reached a strategic agreement with an unnamed investor to invest 15,000 Bitcoins in exchange for equity in the company, currently valued at about $1.1 billion.
Tianruixiang also stated that the agreement includes a strategic collaboration focusing on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, planning to jointly establish an innovation lab to develop AI-driven trading and risk management tools, blockchain infrastructure, decentralized applications, and related products covering Layer 2 networks, DeFi, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Tether Has Reduced Its Fundraising Target from $20 Billion to $5 Billion
According to ChainCatcher, Tether, the stablecoin issuer, has lowered its fundraising target from the previous $15-20 billion to $5 billion, due to investor skepticism regarding its $500 billion valuation target.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in an interview that the $15-20 billion fundraising amount was a "misunderstanding," as it was merely the maximum amount they were willing to sell, not a target. He emphasized that the company is highly profitable and is "very satisfied" even without selling equity. Ardoino also compared Tether to AI companies, stating, "AI companies generate the same amount of profit as us, just with a negative sign in front." It is reported that Tether's profit last year was about $10 billion, mainly from returns on its held assets, but profits are expected to decline by about 25% year-on-year in 2025. Previous reports indicated that Tether sought to raise up to $20 billion at a $500 billion valuation by September 2025.
Crypto Compliance Company TRM Labs Completes $70 Million Series C Funding, Led by Blockchain Capital
According to ChainCatcher, cryptocurrency compliance and investigation startup TRM Labs announced the completion of $70 million in Series C funding, achieving a valuation of $1 billion, becoming a new "crypto unicorn."
This round of funding was led by early investor Blockchain Capital, with traditional institutions such as Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Brevan Howard, Thoma Bravo, and Citi Ventures participating. TRM Labs was founded in 2018 by Esteban Castaño and Rahul Raina, and its blockchain analysis software is widely adopted by global law enforcement agencies and an increasing number of private companies using cryptocurrency for fund transfers.
Currently, about 40% of TRM's clients come from the private sector, and this proportion is growing as financial institutions explore tokenized deposits, equity, and other assets. The company's team has rapidly expanded to 350 people and is leveraging AI technology to combat the escalation of criminal tactics.
X Adds Rocket Emoji Like Animation for Likes, Suspected to Echo SpaceX and xAI Merger Progress
According to ChainCatcher, DogeDesigner posted that X has added a rocket emoji-like animation for likes, suspected to echo the progress of the SpaceX and xAI merger.
Binance SAFU Fund Buys Another $100 Million in Bitcoin
According to ChainCatcher, on-chain data monitoring shows that the Binance SAFU Fund extracted 1,315 Bitcoins worth about $100 million from the Binance hot wallet address just one minute ago.
Bloomberg: Nvidia Will Invest $20 Billion in OpenAI, Agreement Near Completion
According to ChainCatcher, citing informed sources, Nvidia is about to reach an agreement to invest $20 billion in OpenAI, and Nvidia's investment plan is nearing completion. Due to the information not being public, these individuals requested anonymity. The deal has not been finalized, and terms may still change. Both OpenAI and Nvidia declined to comment.
Previously, according to Bloomberg, OpenAI planned to raise up to $100 billion in a new round of financing, most of which would come from large tech companies. Amazon has discussed investing up to $50 billion, and SoftBank has also discussed investing up to $30 billion.
Bitwise to Acquire Crypto Staking Service Provider Chorus One, Expanding Yield Product Layout
According to ChainCatcher, cryptocurrency asset management company Bitwise Asset Management has agreed to acquire institutional-grade staking service provider Chorus One. Both parties have confirmed the transaction but did not disclose the specific acquisition amount. Chorus One primarily provides institutional-grade staking services for decentralized networks, with its website showing that it currently manages staking assets of about $2.2 billion.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated that staking is "one of the most attractive growth opportunities" for clients holding spot cryptocurrency assets. Reports indicate that the M&A scale in the cryptocurrency industry reached a historical high in 2025, with total transaction volume of about $37 billion, showing a clear trend of industry consolidation. Chorus One CEO Brian Fabian Crain also stated that staking business is more suitable for integration into larger platform ecosystems.
According to ChainCatcher, the Ministry of Public Security announced that it has drafted the "Cybercrime Prevention Law (Draft for Comments)" and is now soliciting public opinions, with feedback due by March 2, 2026. The content includes: no individual or organization may knowingly harbor, transfer, acquire, sell on behalf of others, or conceal or disguise funds, data, or virtual property obtained from others' network illegal activities.
No individual or organization may knowingly use funds obtained from others' illegal activities to provide fund circulation services using virtual currency or other network virtual property.
xAI Hiring Remote Crypto Finance Experts, Hourly Rate Up to $100
According to ChainCatcher, xAI is hiring a Crypto Finance Expert with an hourly rate of $45 to $100, and the position is fully remote.
The job involves solving complex problems in quantitative crypto strategies, including on-chain data and fund flow analysis, DeFi yield and liquidity modeling, perpetual contract and funding rate strategies, CEX/DEX cross-market arbitrage, crypto market microstructure and MEV research, machine learning-driven crypto alpha signals, and portfolio management and risk control in a 24/7 high-volatility market. Candidates are also required to produce professional analyses in text, audio, and video formats for AI model training and benchmarking.
Key qualifications required for candidates include a relevant master's or doctoral background in quantitative finance, computer science, statistics, or equivalent professional experience as a quantitative cryptocurrency trader, system strategist, or on-chain analyst. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, proficiency in cryptocurrency data sources and tools, and outstanding analytical abilities, attention to detail, and the ability to make reasonable judgments in the absence of complete information are also required.
According to ChainCatcher, in response to market-disclosed data indicating that Bitmine's ETH holdings have a floating loss of up to $6.6 billion, the company's chairman Tom Lee posted on the X platform, stating that some market views misunderstand the operational logic of the Ethereum treasury. Bitmine's core goal is to track ETH prices and strive for outperformance over a complete market cycle. It is normal for ETH prices to fall in sync during a downturn in the crypto market.
The "unrealized losses" in Bitmine's ETH holdings at this stage are not a system flaw but part of the product design, and he questioned whether similar criticism should be directed at index ETFs that incur losses during downturns.
Tom Lee also emphasized that Bitmine has no liabilities, and given the strengthening of Ethereum's fundamentals, the recent market correction is "very attractive." In the long run, Ethereum will still be an important infrastructure for the future financial system.
Eugene: I Am Fully Cash and Observing Again, Next Target Price Far Below Current Price
According to ChainCatcher, trader Eugene Ng Ah Sio posted on his personal channel, stating, "I am still not interested in the market. Everything looks terrible, and I am certain the next price level is far below the current price. It's unfortunate that things are developing along this path, but I am fully cash and observing again."
Bloomberg: Anthropic Plans Employee Stock Buyback at a Valuation of $350 Billion and Aims to Raise Over $20 Billion
According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reported that Anthropic plans to conduct an employee stock buyback at a valuation of $350 billion. Meanwhile, the company is undergoing a funding round expected to raise over $20 billion. This buyback offer will allow Anthropic's employees to cash out part of their equity in the company.
Informed sources revealed that the $350 billion valuation is the same as the valuation discussed in the ongoing funding and is a pre-funding valuation, meaning it does not include the funds already raised.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of February 5, 09:00,
The top five popular tokens on ETH in the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO
The top five popular tokens on Solana in the past 24 hours are: arc, PENGUIN, USELESS, WAR, WhiteWhale
The top five popular tokens on Base in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, B3, NATO, TOSHI, toby
What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours?
The New York Times: Creating a Golden Statue of Trump, A Crazy Marketing Campaign for a Meme Coin
This statue of President Trump is called "Don Colossus." It stands 15 feet tall, placed on a 7,000-pound base, making its overall height comparable to a two-story building. This giant statue is cast in bronze and coated with a thick layer of gold leaf. (Note: Don Colossus translates to "Giant Don," referring to Trump as a giant.)
For over a year, this gilded statue has been at the center of one of the most bizarre gold-digging schemes of the Trump era. A group of cryptocurrency investors spent $300,000 commissioning a sculptor to create this statue in tribute to Trump, who openly supports cryptocurrency.
In Fact, the Crypto Winter Began in January 2025
We have been in a cryptocurrency winter since January 2025. It is likely that we are closer to the end of the winter than to the beginning.
We are in a full-blown cryptocurrency winter.
The crypto Twitter community has only recently begun to realize this, but it is undeniable. Bitcoin has fallen 39% from its historical peak in October 2025, Ethereum has dropped 53%, and many other crypto assets have seen even larger declines.
This is not a "bull market correction" or a "slight decline." This is a full-blown cryptocurrency winter, akin to the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2022 film "The Revenant"—caused by excessive leverage and widespread profit-taking among veteran players.
Vitalik Finally Admits Ethereum's Major Strategic Mistake, Is Your Position Still There?
After ETH prices hit a new low since May last year, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin published a lengthy article today reflecting on Ethereum's long-standing core Layer 2 strategy, planning to increase investment in Layer 1, which could create a sensational impact across the entire crypto industry.
The initially Rollup-centric roadmap defined Layer 2 as Ethereum-supported sharding, providing trustless block space. In this article, Vitalik seems to have abandoned his previously advocated "Rollup-centric" scaling model, pointing out that while Ethereum's underlying scaling is happening, the decentralization speed of Layer 2 is "far slower than expected," and many Layer 2 solutions cannot or are unwilling to meet the trust guarantees required for true sharding.
Finally, Aave Founder Buys a $30 Million Mansion
In the fourth quarter of 2025, as Bitcoin soared past $120,000 to reach a new historical high, crypto billionaires have quietly turned to traditional real estate for hedging.
According to Bloomberg, Stani Kulechov, founder of the DeFi platform Aave, purchased a five-story Victorian-style mansion in Notting Hill, London, for £22 million (approximately $30 million). The transaction was completed in November 2025, when Bitcoin prices were in a high volatility range.
Amid the UK Labour government's increase in stamp duty and the cancellation of tax incentives for ultra-high-net-worth foreign residents, the London mansion market continues to be under pressure, with the transaction volume of homes over £5 million in December 2025 dropping by about 40% year-on-year, making this deal one of the highest-priced cases in London's high-end residential market in nearly a year.
Risk warning
