direction

According to BIT analysis, Bitcoin futures open interest has significantly reduced from the peak of $42 billion in October 2025 to the current $21 billion, as the market has undergone deep deleveraging. Currently, on-site leverage is noticeably low, and small-scale capital inflows can have an amplifying effect on prices; the funding rate has recently fluctuated sharply between -12.6% and +7.1%, with rapid switching between long and short positions.On the clearing front, the last concentrated forced liquidation occurred on February 6, and the previous leverage has basically been cleared, resulting in a relatively healthy position structure. In the short term, Bitcoin has not formed a clear directional trend, but the market is in a highly sensitive state, and any capital inflow or narrative shift could trigger unexpected price volatility.

A number of former OpenAI employees have jointly established a venture capital fund called Zero Shot, with a target size of $100 million. The first round has raised approximately $20 million and completed several investments. The fund was initiated by Evan Morikawa, Andrew Mayne, Shawn Jain, among others, with Kelly Kovacs and Brett Rounsaville also participating.Invested projects include the enterprise automation platform Worktrace AI and the robotics company Foundry Robotics, among others. The team stated that they will focus on AI directions with long-term potential, while maintaining a cautious attitude towards certain sectors, including "vibe coding" platforms and robot video data training.

According to official social media news, Huobi HTX will hold a live broadcast today at 20:00 (UTC+8) on the theme "U.S. Stocks Enter Technical Correction: Can the Crypto Market Strengthen Independently?" At that time, crypto KOLs such as Sasaki Hoshino, Mister, Bull Demon King, and Meta will attend to discuss the phased performance of the crypto market against the backdrop of multiple macro disturbances such as the correction in U.S. stocks and rising oil prices, as well as whether mainstream assets like BTC and ETH can achieve a relatively independent trend amid changes in liquidity and risk appetite.

According to The Block, Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs jointly funded the newly established political action committee "Blockchain Leadership Fund," marking Anchorage Digital's first involvement in PAC financing.The fund plans to support candidates who promote digital asset and blockchain policies ahead of the midterm elections and actively engage in voter education. Currently, the U.S. Congress's cryptocurrency legislative process is stalled, with the Senate Banking Committee still at odds with the banking industry over stablecoin reward regulation issues. Meanwhile, the crypto advocacy organization Stand With Crypto has also launched a legislator digital asset position scoring system to continue building momentum for the industry ahead of the 2026 elections.

Bitcoin is currently maintaining a range-bound oscillation pattern. Under the multiple pressures of the macro environment, market liquidity continues to be constrained, and the price direction remains unclear. Analysis indicates that the interplay of energy prices, monetary policy, and geopolitical risks has led to a compression of liquidity, causing the market to enter a "wait-and-see period." The current market is not lacking in structure but rather in incremental funds.Recently, Bitcoin has stabilized after experiencing volatility, with selling pressure easing somewhat, while ETF fund flows have shown a slight net inflow. However, spot demand remains weak, and the imbalance between supply and demand limits price breakthroughs. From a technical perspective, Bitcoin has found support in the $67,000-$69,000 range, with a key resistance level forming around $72,000. Analysts state that there is a "liquidity gap" above this range, and once effectively broken, the price could quickly rise to the $82,000 area; however, until demand shows significant improvement, the market will continue to maintain an oscillating pattern.On the macro level, high energy prices, global central banks maintaining high interest rates, and uncertainties in the Middle East collectively exacerbate market concerns about "stagflation" risks. Kraken Research points out that the combination of slowing growth and inflationary pressures complicates the policy path and suppresses the performance of risk assets. Against this backdrop, the market has entered a "liquidity compression phase."Bitunix analysis suggests that the mismatch of multiple macro factors has compressed funds into a narrow range, with Bitcoin acting more as a risk appetite indicator rather than a trend trading target. In terms of funds, the March spot Bitcoin ETF recorded a net inflow of approximately $1.5 billion, an improvement from the net outflow in February, but still below January levels, indicating cautious institutional fund inflows. The derivatives market is leaning defensive, with funding rates remaining negative and high demand for downside protection; meanwhile, spot trading volume has not shown sustained growth, indicating limited market participation. Overall, Bitcoin has not yet formed a clear breakthrough or downward trend, and is currently closer to a "accumulation and consolidation" phase, with future movements still dependent on macro data, policy signals, and changes in geopolitical situations.

Pump.fun co-founder alon disclosed on platform X that the platform has updated its fee mechanism to address malicious manipulation issues in token issuance. Previously, each token issued on pump.fun had an associated Coin Admin who could arbitrarily change the fee recipient and distribution method, leading to manipulative behavior: creators would first set fees directed to others, and once the token gained popularity, they would redirect the fees back to their own wallets, harming user interests.After the update, all tokens will default to the regular creator fee (except for rebate tokens), and creators will have only one opportunity to redirect the fees to another wallet; thereafter, the fee settings will be locked. If creators do not use this opportunity, they can operate it later when needed. The fees of tokens with already allocated fees will be locked, and existing regular fee tokens will have one chance to change.

Synthetix releases the 2026 roadmap, covering six major directions:Stock Buybacks and Restoration of USD Pegged Exchange Rate: All trading revenues will be used for SNX stock buybacks and USD buybacks. The goal is to achieve a stable USD pegged exchange rate by the end of the second quarter.Multi-Collateral Trading (April): Native deposits of ETH, cbBTC, and other assets as collateral on Synthetix Perps - releasing billions of dollars of idle Ethereum mainnet funds.Basis Trading Vault (Second Quarter): Popularizing access to delta-neutral basis trading strategies, with stablecoin assets represented as supported by basis trading.Synthetix Liquidity Pool (SLP) Public Release (Second Quarter): A community-owned market-making vault - no management fees, no performance fees, currently in private beta testing with an annualized yield of about 45%.Market Expansion: The cryptocurrency market expands in the first quarter, the commodities market begins to expand in April, the foreign exchange market starts expanding in June, and pre-release perpetual contracts for highly anticipated tokens.Digital Dollar Vision: Transitioning sUSD to a fully decentralized, basis trading-collateralized stablecoin—supported by a Perp DEX that uniquely owns the native stablecoin.Synthetix states that 2026 is the year of Synthetix's return, with a clear goal: to provide the best perpetual trading experience in the DeFi space, relying on the security, composability, and neutrality of the Ethereum mainnet.

According to CoinDesk analysis, Bitcoin has risen about 10% this week to above $72,000, briefly breaking through $73,900 during the day, and is approaching a key price range that has seen significant turning points multiple times over the past two years—approximately $73,750 to $74,400.This range previously suppressed upward trends in the first quarter of 2024 and marked the end of a downward trend in April 2025. If Bitcoin can decisively break through this range, it will signal a new bullish momentum; if it fails to break through, it may confirm that the overall downward trend that began last October is still ongoing. Traders need to closely monitor price movements in the coming days.

According to Jin10, the governor of the Austrian central bank stated that the European Central Bank should be prepared to quickly adjust interest rates in either direction.

OpenMind and Circle have officially announced a strategic partnership to jointly launch the world's first payment infrastructure specifically designed for autonomous intelligent agents and real-world embodied AI. By deeply integrating Circle's USDC stablecoin with OpenMind's x402 protocol module, this collaboration enables robots and AI entities to achieve direct and autonomous payments for energy, services, and data in the physical world.Based on the collaboration between OpenMind and Circle, the FABRIC Foundation will accelerate the implementation and large-scale deployment from two main directions: Robot Birthplace and Acceleration of Adoption.The payment infrastructure provided by OpenMind + Circle offers machines an "economic brain," while the FABRIC Foundation is responsible for the entire closed-loop chain of "birth, production, operation, and evolution." The synergy among these three will jointly give rise to a true machine economy era—where robots are no longer mere tools, but independent economic entities with autonomous perception, decision-making, action, and payment capabilities. In the coming months, more real-world deployment cases (such as automatic charging stations) are worth continuous attention.

The official website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a speech by Chairman Paul Atkins at the ETHDenver conference, outlining the agency's direction on cryptocurrency regulation, which mainly includes:Clarifying the "investment contract" framework: The Commission will study and publish a framework that clarifies under what circumstances crypto assets constitute investment contracts, as well as their formation and termination mechanisms.Innovation exemptions: Considering the establishment of innovation exemptions that allow for pilot trading of certain tokenized securities under restricted conditions, including limited trading on new platforms such as automated market makers, to accumulate experience for a long-term regulatory framework.Advancement of rules and guidance: Plans to initiate or advance rulemaking on topics such as financing pathways for crypto assets, broker-dealer custody for non-securities crypto assets (including payment stablecoins), and modernization of transfer agent rules; and continue to provide clarity for non-registration scenarios such as wallets and user interfaces through no-action letters and exemption orders.Regulatory philosophy: Paul Atkins emphasized that regulators should not react to short-term price fluctuations. The responsibility of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to ensure adequate information disclosure and clear rules, allowing market participants to make decisions in a transparent environment, rather than "supporting prices."

OpenSea announced that it will hold an online live event on March 30, during which it will reveal its latest product developments and future directions, stating that this event will mark the "next chapter" for OpenSea.In response to community speculation about the TGE timing, OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander stated on Discord that there has been no change since the last official public statement, and currently, no further information can be disclosed.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated during an online event for the XRP community that XRP remains Ripple's "North Star." The company will focus primarily on business integration this year, and large acquisitions are unlikely in the short term, though it does not rule out reassessing merger and acquisition opportunities in the second half of 2026.Garlinghouse pointed out that Ripple invested approximately $4 billion into the crypto ecosystem last year through investments, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, including the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road and the $1 billion acquisition of the fund management platform GTreasury. Compared to the aggressive expansion in 2025, the company will focus more on integrating existing businesses and resources this year. He also mentioned that future mergers and acquisitions will still revolve around strengthening the XRP ecosystem and practical applications, but the overall pace will be more cautious.

Base App announces a shift in product direction, focusing on creating an on-chain trading experience. The information feed will only display tradable assets and on-chain activities, and the Talk discussion section will be removed.At the same time, Base App will gradually terminate the Creator Rewards program. In the past 6 months, over $450,000 has been distributed to approximately 17,000 creators. This program will end on February 15, with the final distribution occurring on February 18. The official statement indicates that new community incentive methods will be explored in the future.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin elaborated on his latest views regarding the integration of Ethereum and artificial intelligence. He pointed out that the ideal future of artificial intelligence should achieve two core goals: first, to enhance human freedom and empowerment, avoiding the replacement of humans by AI or entrapment in insurmountable power structures; second, to ensure system security, mitigating existential risks posed by superintelligence and chaotic scenarios resulting from imbalances in offense and defense.Around this vision, he proposed four key short-term building directions and emphasized that Ethereum will play an important role in them:Build technological tools that support trustless and private interactions, including local large language models, zero-knowledge proof-based API payments, cryptography-driven privacy enhancement solutions, and client-side verification mechanisms for various proofs and certifications.Establish Ethereum as the economic coordination layer for AI-related interactions, supporting scenarios such as API calls, employment and collaboration between autonomous robots, margin mechanisms, and potential future on-chain dispute resolution systems and AI reputation frameworks.Promote the realization of the cypherpunk vision of "self-verification," enabling users to interact directly with Ethereum applications through local models, autonomously generate and verify transactions, complete smart contract audits, and independently assess the trust models of decentralized applications.Leverage artificial intelligence to expand the scale of human judgment and collaboration, activating complex mechanisms such as prediction markets, decentralized governance, and quadratic voting, to build a more efficient and inclusive market and governance ecosystem.Vitalik concluded that the aforementioned directions reflect the idea of achieving decentralized collaboration and system resilience through technology, and combined with AI and cryptographic techniques, they are expected to push social and economic designs, previously limited by human cognitive and coordination capabilities, towards reality.

Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy posted on the X platform, pointing out that the competition between SOL and public chains like ETH is meaningless, as there is currently nothing truly significant happening on-chain, and no one is winning. The essence of stablecoins remains centralized intermediaries; existing blockchains, especially perpetual contract exchanges, cannot scale to CME levels due to the bottleneck of risk engines; crypto assets like Bitcoin have lost themselves in "price increases," with institutional dominance replacing idealism, and only Vitalik still adheres to the original intention; moreover, token designs (buybacks, lock-ups, airdrops) have completely collapsed. However, he remains optimistic about the industry, believing that the market is shaking off the frenzy of "Trump pumps," which will cleanse speculative tourists and leave behind true believers.

Co-founder of Multicoin Capital, Kyle Samani, announced on social media that he has decided to step down from Multicoin Capital and will continue to serve as the chairman of Forward Industries (the largest SOL treasury company).As part of the redemption request planned to be submitted to the Multicoin main fund, he will apply for a physical redemption in the form of FWDI stock and warrants, rather than cash in USD, depending on Multicoin's subsequent decisions, legal and compliance approvals, and the independent consent of Forward. Kyle expressed mixed feelings about saying goodbye, as his time at Multicoin has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences of his life. Nevertheless, he looks forward to taking a break and exploring new directions in the tech field.Kyle Samani is one of the most influential investors in the cryptocurrency space. Since its founding in 2017, Multicoin has become one of the most successful crypto-focused funds, managing billions of dollars. Multicoin is one of the most well-known early institutional investors in Solana, heavily investing in the seed/early stages and steadfastly holding during the extreme situation when Solana plummeted over 90% after the FTX collapse.Kyle is one of the investors in the crypto space who loves to write long articles, and the "three mega theses" proposed by him and the Multicoin team have influenced a generation of practitioners' understanding of the intrinsic value of crypto. Forward Industries will completely pivot to the crypto space in September 2025 through a $1.65 billion PIPE (private investment in public equity), led by crypto giants such as Multicoin Capital, Jump Crypto, and Galaxy Digital, with Kyle Samani personally adding $25 million and serving as chairman.According to the latest report, as of January 15, 2026, the publicly listed Solana treasury company Forward Industries holds a total of 6,979,967.46 SOL, far exceeding other competitors, and has staked almost all SOL since establishing the Solana treasury, earning 133,450 SOL in staking rewards.

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.