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The CEO of Japan's Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, Simon Gerovich, posted on the X platform in response to an anonymous account inciting public opinion without accountability and accusing the company of "dishonest information disclosure." He stated that the related claims are inconsistent with the facts, and both he and the company are willing to take public responsibility for all actions and statements. The company's long-term systematic strategy of increasing Bitcoin holdings remains unchanged.Simon Gerovich stated that over the past six months, against the backdrop of rising volatility, the company has increased its allocation to income-generating businesses by selling put options and employing spread strategies to obtain premiums, while allocating part of the funds for long-term Bitcoin holdings. All Bitcoin purchases are disclosed immediately after decisions are made, and all Bitcoin addresses of the company are public, allowing shareholders to view the holdings in real-time dashboards. In response to the accusation of "buying at high levels in September without disclosure," he mentioned that there were four purchases made in September, all of which were announced in a timely manner. The company's strategy is not about timing the market but rather about long-term, systematic accumulation of Bitcoin.Additionally, selling put options is not merely a bet on price increases, but rather a way to acquire Bitcoin at an effective cost below the spot price. Regular losses mainly stem from the unrealized fair value fluctuations of Bitcoin that are held long-term and not sold, and interpreting this as a strategic failure is a misunderstanding.

Monad announced on the X platform that the Monad Foundation has acquired the open-source blockchain data indexing framework Ponder, with the specific acquisition amount not disclosed.The entire Ponder team will join the Monad Foundation and contribute to the protocol layer, open-source tools, and standards, while also providing support for applications leveraging Monad's performance and decentralized features.

Regarding the issue of accounts being restricted as reported by users, Binance co-founder He Yi stated on the X social platform that the situation may be due to using a VPN to connect to Binance from countries or regions where services cannot be provided. The system will adjust the account to "withdrawal-only mode," and users need to contact customer support for assistance.Previously, some users claimed that they had encountered account restrictions or asset freezes on Binance and other exchanges. Binance emphasized that it is continuously increasing compliance investments and implementing risk control measures in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Binance co-founder He Yi responded on platform X to the news that "Binance employees were fired for discovering transactions related to Iran," stating that compliance staff need to handle various types of cases in their actual work. In recent years, Binance has proactively initiated multiple investigations related to potential crimes and has handed over the results to law enforcement agencies, while also assisting users in avoiding potential fraud and financial losses through risk control and compliance measures.In the face of a constantly changing regulatory environment and new types of financial crime, the company's compliance system still needs to be continuously upgraded and optimized. He also expressed gratitude to former employees who participated in the company's compliance efforts and emphasized that as the company continues to promote higher standards of compliance, it may not be possible to satisfy everyone during the execution process. However, Binance will continue to invest resources and bring in more compliance professionals with specialized backgrounds and law enforcement collaboration experience to enhance overall risk identification, investigation, and resolution capabilities.

Binance co-founder and executive Yi He stated that recent rumors regarding one of its employees in France are circulating. The company has confirmed that the employee and their family are safe and is actively cooperating with law enforcement.Yi He mentioned that three individuals related to the incident have been arrested by the authorities, and the investigation is ongoing. Binance will continue to fully cooperate with the police. He also thanked the French BRB police (Criminal Investigation Division) for their swift action and emphasized that the safety of employees, users, and the community is the top priority, reminding the public to be vigilant against suspicious contacts and to verify information through trusted channels.

The founder of the Bitcoin payment application Strike, Jack Mallers, posted on the X platform to respond to the adjustment of the margin call policy. He stated that the Strike loan mechanism will not fully liquidate Bitcoin collateral. When the loan falls below the maintenance margin level, the platform will only conduct partial liquidations to restore the loan to approximately 65% of a healthy loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.Jack Mallers added that this mechanism is designed to protect users' Bitcoin assets as much as possible while maintaining loan health and to give customers and Bitcoin prices more time to recover. Based on this mechanism, the liquidation ratio of Strike's overall loan book remains in the low single-digit range of the total outstanding loans, approximately 1%--3%.

Binance posted on the X platform stating that the recent market-focused data comes from the third-party platform Coinglass, and there was also a data discrepancy from DefiLlama previously. Currently, the related data is expected to take another 24 to 48 hours to recover.Binance believes that regularly conducting withdrawal tests on trading platforms is a positive and healthy practice, and reminds users to carefully verify addresses during the testing process and to confirm accuracy before proceeding with withdrawals. Additionally, Binance suggested that the industry could consider establishing an annual "Withdrawal Day" to uniformly verify the authenticity of assets across platforms, in order to enhance transparency and market trust.

Co-founder of Story Protocol, SY Lee, responded to the project's postponement of the first large-scale IP token unlock to August 2026, stating that the blockchain network still needs "more time" to build real use cases. This postponement lasts for 6 months, during which the team and investors' tokens will remain locked to reduce short-term circulation pressure.SY Lee mentioned that the current on-chain revenue being close to zero does not accurately reflect Story's business status, as its business model does not rely on gas fees, but instead provides licensing services for human-generated data to AI training in an off-chain manner.He pointed out that the project is shifting from tokenized media content to "non-scrapable" human contribution data and enterprise-level licensing collaborations. While this adjustment reduces short-term visible on-chain revenue, it helps to release long-term commitments and alleviate token supply pressure.

Huobi founder Li Lin stated that he is neither an investor in LD nor Garrett Gin, and that he has not reduced his holdings in Bitcoin or Ethereum during this market cycle, adding that external parties should not associate related market rumors with him.He mentioned that he has taken a break for many years, but still needs to clarify related rumors almost every year.

According to official news, Gate Alpha will launch the 156th phase of the ETF token XAU3L special points airdrop on February 5 at 17:00 (UTC+8). This airdrop will adopt a tiered airdrop model with high, medium, and low levels. Users holding 100 ≤ Gate Alpha points ≤ 159 can receive 4 XAU3L (claiming 0.1 KDK) airdrop tokens, consuming 11 Gate Alpha points; users holding 160 ≤ Gate Alpha points ≤ 181 can receive 10 XAU3L (claiming 0.2 KDK) airdrop tokens, consuming 13 Gate Alpha points; users holding ≥ 182 Gate Alpha points can receive 20 XAU3L (claiming 0.3 KDK) airdrop tokens, consuming 14 Gate Alpha points.The top 4 cryptocurrencies by growth rate on Gate Alpha today are: TRVL (219.42%), CANG (139.82%), Buttons (124.24%), and FINA (92.71%).Gate Alpha now supports popular public chains such as SOL, ETH, Gate Layer, BNB Chain, Base, SUI, ARB, World Chain, AVAX, Polygon, LINEA, ZK, OP, and Berachain, and enables seamless trading of tokens across all chains through the contract address search function, facilitating cross-chain trading and allowing users to access on-chain tokens with one click.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently stated that the initial idea of using L2 as the main scaling engine for Ethereum is no longer reasonable, and he called for second-layer networks to evolve towards stronger specialization. This statement quickly prompted responses from mainstream L2 teams such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base.Vitalik pointed out that many L2s still rely on multi-signature bridges and have not fully inherited Ethereum's security; at the same time, with the increase in gas limits and the advancement of native Rollup solutions, the throughput capacity of the Ethereum mainnet itself is strengthening. Against this backdrop, the positioning of L2 needs to be rethought.Karl Floersch, co-founder of the Optimism Foundation, stated that he supports building a modular L2 that covers the entire decentralized spectrum, but also admitted that there are still real challenges such as long withdrawal periods, immature Stage 2 proof mechanisms, and insufficient cross-chain tools.Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Offchain Labs, the developer of Arbitrum, emphasized that scaling remains the core value of L2. He believes that even if the Ethereum mainnet's capabilities improve, it will be difficult to replace L2's role in handling thousands of TPS during peak times, and warned that if Ethereum is unfriendly to Rollups, institutions may choose independent Layer 1s instead.Jesse Pollak, head of Base, stated that scaling Ethereum L1 is beneficial for the entire ecosystem, while agreeing that L2 cannot just be a cheaper version of Ethereum. He pointed out that Base is forming its own characteristics through application layer differentiation, account abstraction, and privacy features.Additionally, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson hinted on social media that ZK-native L2s (such as Starknet) have, to some extent, aligned with the specialization direction proposed by Vitalik. Overall, L2 builders generally accept the trend of de-homogenization and repositioning, but there are still divergences on whether scaling remains a core mission.

According to Cointelegraph, after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented that "the original vision of Layer 2 as the primary scaling engine is no longer applicable," several L2 builders responded, generally agreeing that Rollup needs to move beyond the positioning of "a cheaper Ethereum," but there are disagreements on whether scaling should still be its core role.Optimism co-founder Karl Floersch welcomed the challenge of building a modular L2 stack that supports "full-spectrum decentralization," while acknowledging that there are still major obstacles such as long withdrawal periods, second-stage proofs not being production-ready, and insufficient cross-chain application tools. He supports the native Rollup precompiled solutions emphasized by Buterin.Steven Goldfeder, co-founder of Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs, took a firmer stance, arguing that although the Rollup model has evolved, scaling remains the core value of L2. He pointed out that Arbitrum was not built as "a service of Ethereum," but because Ethereum provides a highly secure and low-cost settlement layer, making large-scale Rollups possible. He warned that if Ethereum is seen as hostile to Rollups, institutions might choose to launch independent Layer 1 chains instead of deploying on Ethereum.Base head Jesse Pollak stated that scaling Ethereum L1 is "a victory for the entire ecosystem," agreeing that L2 cannot just be "a cheaper Ethereum." He mentioned that Base is differentiating itself through applications, account abstraction, and privacy features, and is working towards decentralization in the second stage.StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson hinted that some ZK-native L2s (like Starknet) believe they already fit the specialized role described by Buterin. The entire Ethereum ecosystem is facing a roadmap adjustment: the base layer aims to enhance its capabilities, while L2 is repositioning itself as a dedicated environment serving different technical needs.

BitMine Chairman Tom Lee recently responded to market doubts, denying that the company's substantial unrealized losses in Ethereum reserves would create a "ceiling" on future ETH prices. He stated that experiencing unrealized losses during a market downturn is an "intrinsic characteristic of the Ethereum reserve strategy, not a design flaw."Previously, some commentators claimed that BitMine's holdings of ETH had incurred approximately $6.6 billion in unrealized losses and believed that these ETH would eventually be sold off, thereby suppressing prices, even describing Lee as the "exit liquidity" for early ETH holders. In response, Lee countered that such views "misunderstand the operational logic of Ethereum reserve companies," emphasizing that BitMine's goal is to track and outperform ETH performance over complete market cycles, rather than engage in short-term trading.Data shows that over the past month, ETH prices have dropped nearly 30%, and BitMine's stock price has also fallen by about 30% during the same period. Currently, BitMine holds approximately 4.285 million ETH, accounting for about 3.5% of the circulating supply, making it the largest publicly listed Ethereum reserve company by known scale. Its holdings' market value had approached $14 billion at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, before declining to below $10 billion with the market correction.Lee compared the current situation to an index ETF, stating that experiencing unrealized losses during a systemic downturn is a normal phenomenon, not a strategic failure. The debate surrounding Ethereum reserve companies has also intensified: critics argue that large reserve companies could become a potential source of selling pressure, while supporters emphasize that they are closer to long-term, index-like exposure tools.From a valuation perspective, as the market weakens, most ETH reserve companies' stock prices have fallen below their crypto asset net value (mNAV), which objectively suppresses the motivation for low-priced capital raises and limits dilution risk. Supporters believe that this mechanism acts as a "natural circuit breaker," reserving ammunition for the next cycle.

According to market disclosure data, Bitmine, the ETH treasury company, has an unrealized loss of up to $6.6 billion in its ETH holdings. The company's chairman, Tom Lee, responded 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 decline in sync during a downturn in the crypto market.The "unrealized losses" in ETH holdings that Bitmine is experiencing at this stage are not a systemic flaw but rather a part of the product design. He also questioned whether similar criticism should be directed at index ETFs that incur losses during downturns.Tom Lee previously emphasized that Bitmine has no liabilities, and given the strengthening fundamentals of Ethereum, the recent market pullback is "very attractive." In the long term, Ethereum will still be an important infrastructure for the future financial system.

Aster CEO Leonard has officially responded to the recent ongoing FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) surrounding the project. He stated that the accusations currently circulating are "completely false on a factual level" and represent "maliciously intended opinion manipulation without evidence." In response to questions regarding "sell-off accusations, CZ's involvement, and whether the project is 'exiting liquidity'," Leonard clarified: CZ is merely an advisor to the project, and the investment from Yzi Labs is in a long-term lock-up; Aster operates as an independent project, not controlled or directly operated by CZ or Binance entities. The related accusations are "baseless."He also emphasized that the token release and buyback follow a publicly available token economic model, aimed at incentivizing ecosystem participants rather than facilitating sell-offs. The project has recently upgraded its buyback mechanism, executing daily automatic buybacks on-chain (funded by protocol revenue) to enhance transparency and predictability. Leonard provided the following on-chain verifiable data: a total buyback of 254 million tokens; 78 million tokens have been burned, and an equivalent amount of tokens has been re-locked into the airdrop pool; plans to burn all remaining repurchased tokens in the future.The next development focus for the project includes: expanding asset liquidity and accelerating new listings; a privacy-first Layer 1 network expected to launch in March, achieving both verifiable transactions and privacy protection; subsequently introducing staking features for token holders; optimizing trading experience and interface design. The optimization direction for the token economic model includes: S6 being the last phase of trading airdrops, with future circulation growth expected to slow down; pausing the monthly 1% unlock until staking is live; and continuing to execute automatic buybacks (with up to 80% of fees used for buybacks during S6).

The American Bankers Association (ABA) issued a statement regarding the cryptocurrency industry meeting held at the White House that day. The meeting aimed to advance the legislative process related to cryptocurrency market infrastructure and invited representatives from cryptocurrency companies and traditional banking to participate together.In the statement, the ABA thanked the Trump administration for facilitating this "constructive dialogue" and noted that the meeting acknowledged the traditional banking industry's concerns regarding digital asset legislation. However, the ABA also emphasized that any related legislation must support local credit supply aimed at households and small businesses to maintain the safety and soundness of the financial system.Additionally, the ABA called on congressional senators to close regulatory loopholes that might allow cryptocurrency companies to pay consumers interest or returns on stablecoins, viewing this issue as one of the core differences between traditional banking and the cryptocurrency industry. The banking sector is concerned that such arrangements could exacerbate deposit outflows or force banks to raise deposit rates to compete. Reports indicate that the White House is expected to continue pushing for follow-up consultations to seek a compromise between supporting digital asset innovation and maintaining the traditional financial system.

CZ issued a response stating that over the past two days, some rather imaginative FUD has been observed, and he clarified each point:Regarding a circulating Polymarket screenshot that asked, "Will someone throw something at CZ's face during the crypto event in 2026," CZ stated that this event does not exist on Polymarket or any prediction market, and there is no so-called $7 million trading volume; the related screenshot is fabricated.On the claim that "CZ canceled the super cycle," CZ bluntly said this is an overinterpretation. He only mentioned that he is "not as confident as before."Concerning the rumor that "Binance sold $1 billion in Bitcoin," CZ clarified that it was Binance users who sold, not Binance itself. Changes in Binance wallet balances typically occur only when users withdraw funds; many users still keep their assets on Binance as a wallet after trading.Additionally, in response to the doubts about the SAFU fund not buying BTC, CZ stated that Binance has clearly mentioned it will complete the conversion within 30 days, suggesting that Binance's initial plan might be to gradually complete the purchases within these 30 days; then, close to the end of the 30 days, or on a weekly basis, transfer the funds to the corresponding addresses. Of course, it is impossible to see them buying through DEX. Considering Bitcoin's market cap of about $1.7 trillion, the impact of buying $1 billion in Bitcoin in batches over 30 days on the Bitcoin price and whether it enhances market confidence is left for the market to judge.

He Yi responded to "Binance buying BTC is just internal fund management and does not involve receiving coins from external addresses," stating, "Binance will buy within the Binance platform."

According to official news, Gate Alpha will launch the 154th GT points airdrop on February 2 at 17:00 (UTC+8). This airdrop will adopt a tiered airdrop model with high, medium, and low levels. Users holding 136 ≤ Gate Alpha points ≤ 159 can receive 0.45 GT airdrop tokens and will consume 11 Gate Alpha points; those holding 160 ≤ Gate Alpha points ≤ 181 can receive 1 GT airdrop token and will consume 13 Gate Alpha points; and those holding ≥ 182 Gate Alpha points can receive 2.2 GT airdrop tokens and will consume 14 Gate Alpha points.Gate Alpha now supports popular public chains such as SOL, ETH, Gate Layer, BNB Chain, Base, SUI, ARB, World Chain, AVAX, Polygon, LINEA, ZK, OP, and Berachain, and can achieve seamless trading of tokens across all chains through the contract address search function, enabling one-click access to on-chain tokens.

Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb posted on platform X that in the past few months, the public perception of Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) has seen a significant reversal: he was once viewed as a "hero" by some in the community upon his release, but currently, some opinions equate him with negative figures like SBF. He believes that both extreme views are unreasonable, but they reflect an interesting phenomenon of changing market sentiment.CZ subsequently responded that both viewpoints are overly simplistic and may be related to changes in market cycles and the macro environment. For example, the crypto industry previously experienced a more sympathetic sentiment under regulatory pressure, while currently, in a relatively friendlier policy environment, if Bitcoin does not continue to reach new highs, market sentiment may turn negative. This could also simply be a change in sentiment driven by bull and bear cycles. He stated that the team will continue to focus on building and thanked the community for their support.